Two Milbank offices have helped British investor Actis acquire a portfolio of toll roads in Colombia from Spanish engineering group Sacyr for US$1.6 billion.
Sacyr relied on Philippi Prietocarrisoza Ferrero DU & Uría (Colombia).
Latin Lawyer understands that Actis also enlisted Brigard Urrutia, but could not confirm this before publishing.
The deal was signed on 12 June.
In the transaction, Actis purchased various stakes in several of Sacyr’s toll roads, which span a total of 416 kilometres of roads in northern and western Colombia.
This includes a 100% stake in the 123-kilometre Pamplona-Cúcuta toll road, as well as a controlling stake in the Rumichaca-Pasto motorway that connects Colombia to Ecuador. Actis also snapped up a co-controlling stake in Autopista al Mar 1, a 181-kilometre toll road connecting Medellín with Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
Actis will use its Long Life Infrastructure Fund 2 (ALLIF2) to finance the purchase.
This deal forms part of Sacyr’s portfolio restructuring strategy to optimise asset allocation and support its global growth initiatives.
Even with the divestments, Sacyr will continue to operate in Colombia through its management of the Puerta de Hierro highway, which connects three departments on the Colombian Caribbean coast: Bolívar, Sucre, and Córdoba. It also oversees the development of the Corredor Buenaventura–Loboguerrero–Buga project and the Dique canal environmental restoration initiative, which is located in the Caribbean region of Colombia.
There were several deals in Colombia’s road sector over the past year. In November, for example, a concessionaire jointly held by Brazil’s Patria and Colombian conglomerate Colpatria obtained US$650 million in financing to develop a 4G motorway project in southwestern Colombia. In a notable 2024 deal, Spanish construction company Ortiz and Colombian counterpart KMA got a credit facility worth US$1.1 billion to develop the Troncales de Magdalena 5G dual-toll road. That transaction won the Deal of the Year Award in the project finance: infrastructure category.
